help: electrical problems, 93 Saturn SL2

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blah blah

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People get in the habbit of replying to threads without leaving Year and model info in body of the text. I was thinking that perhaps we "regs/semi-regs" should try to enforce some standards in the "headers". We all know these should be Saturns so the year and model of the car should be enough followed by a short discription. I know there was talk of making a faqs but I dont think that got far. If some of the regulars here are interested I could make a yahoo group so we can discuse making a faq's in there out of the way of this group. Anyone interested?

Samples of what I'm refering to.

Year Model - Short Title
2005 Vue - Inop Speedo
1995 SC2 - Automatic Trans Sticking
1997 SL2 - No Spark
2001 SL1 - Need a manual
2001 SL2 - Bad quill Bearing
2002 L200 - Flat Towing
1997 SL2 - No start
 
blah blah wrote:
If some of the regulars here are interested I could make a yahoo group so we can discuse making a faq's in there out of the way of this group.
Anyone interested?
Click to expand...

How about making a Yahoo group so we could discuss that and *other* Saturn-related issues as well?
 
In article ,
says...
In article ,
blah blah wrote:

> If some of the regulars here are interested I could make a yahoo group
> so we can discuse making a faq's in there out of the way of this group.
> Anyone interested?

How about making a Yahoo group so we could discuss that and *other* Saturn-related issues as well?
Click to expand...

maybe.
 
Here I have it roughed out somewhat...
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rec_autos_makers_saturn_FAQs/

Yahoo's getting filled with more and more ads but if you have Firefox with its Adblock plugin added its not to bad...
 
blah blah wrote:
Here I have it roughed out somewhat...
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/rec_autos_makers_saturn_FAQs/
Click to expand...

Great! The group name is a mouthful, though. :-)
 
Most of the time it runs fine.

If she leaves the rear defroster on and turns the key off, the battery goes dead.

Sometimes, after the car starts normally, the aftermarket CD player/radio blinks on/off, the lights and gauges dim or go out, and after she turns the key off, the battery is dead.

I recharge the battery and it ususally starts and runs fine. For a while.

Q's:

1. Any immediate diagnoses or quick fixes?
2. Is this something that can be diagnosed with a fancy scanner or computer or electrrical gizmo?

As always, thanks a heap,
-jbb
 
Most of the time it runs fine.

If she leaves the rear defroster on and turns the key off, the battery goes dead.

Sometimes, after the car starts normally, the aftermarket CD player/radio blinks on/off, the lights and gauges dim or go out, and after she turns the key off, the battery is dead.

I recharge the battery and it ususally starts and runs fine. For a while.

Q's:

1. Any immediate diagnoses or quick fixes?
2. Is this something that can be diagnosed with a fancy scanner or computer or electrrical gizmo?

As always, thanks a heap,
-jbb
Click to expand...

First thing a technician looks for is "Previous Work"... Who ever installed the aftermarket radio has very likely screwed something up.
 
Are the metal portions of the body/chassis starting to rust? The problems you describe can happen when there are bad ground connections. Use a meter to check for a voltage drop from battery minus terminal to engine block to various points on the body with the engine and accessories running. I would be concerned with any readings over .2 volt.

Also an excessive voltage drop from the alternator to battery will prevent the battery from charging as it should.

I had this happen on a car that was rusting out. Dashboard lights would flicker, battery liked to go dead, etc. Fixed it by running extra ground wires from the battery to engine to alternator frame to various points on the body. Worked fine after that.

Good luck,
Jim
 
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